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Submitted: 7/30/14 • Approved: 8/2/14 • Last Updated: 8/5/14 • R1027859-G0-S3
November 7, 1863 - August 9, 1923
*Obituary
Rogers Democrat
Thursday, August 16, 1923
HICKEY, George - George Hickey is dead. George went to Caney, Kansas a few weeks ago to spend some time in that section with friends and the first intimation that anything was wrong with him was a telegram Friday to John W. Bryant announcing his death. In the case of George, one can not call his death sad or untimely for he was well advanced in years, poor in pocket, and had been a sorely deformed cripple from birth and there were a lot of queer kinks in his mind. And yet he will be missed by a great many people who for years have been accustomed to seeing him on the walk or in doorways on First street selling papers, pencils, gum, etc. George was never a man to bewail his infirmities. He accepted them as a handicap but never complained and was always the first to laugh at his awkwardness in getting about. He was always cheerful, always optimistic; things were always soon to be better for him. Suggestions to the effect that he be sent to the County Home were often made but he would not hear to it - he wanted to be his "own boss." The weather had to be extreme to keep him indoors or away from his beat. He will be missed by the editor for he had been bringing laughs into the Democrat office for some twenty or more years. Our acquaintance began when he lived with his widowed mother out on West Walnut street and sent in items from that neighborhood. George always had literary aspirations and was a frequent and voluminous contributor to the Democrat's waste basket. The non-appearance of his articles never worried George altho he frequently commented on the punk literary tastes of the editor. (A habit, by the way, that was not original with him.} The Democrat never had a more exacting critic. He was very near sighted but he used to spot misspelled words and incorrect statements {usually wrong initials or street locations} and take the editor to task at most inopportune times. George was no diplomat. But it was always such good natured "kidding" that we hate to realize there will be no more of it. And those visits from George when he would return from one of his periodic swings through Oklahoma, Kansas and Arkansas. He was frequently arrested and often jailed for selling without a license but it worried him not a whit. It only meant free board and lodging and a welcome rest and when he tired of the jail fare or beds George would commence singing and keep it up day and night until they were glad to release him and hand him enough to pay his fare to the next town. He was the only person we ever knew who could sing himself into or out of jail with equal facility. He had no ear whatever for music but what he lacked in quality he more than made up in quantity. It was not an easy matter to tell where that childish innocence of his ended and where his mature shrewdness and intelligence began. He read much and had a wide range of general information and was far from being the half-wit that a lot of casual observers believed him to be. One never knew whether George believed those wonderful yarns he used to spin or was having fun in his own way with his hearers. But we know he dreamed great dreams and tried for years to put them into words in stories, books and more recently into moving picture scenarios. If he really lived in that make-believe world of his he was happier than most people; and if it was always only make-believe to relieve a drab and burdened life, and he knew it, he was a real philosopher. George Hickey goes into local history as one of the most interesting characters the Democrat editor has ever known. And the editor knows, too, that he has never had a more faithful friend and well-wisher. George Hickey was almost sixty years old and a native of Indiana. He is survived by two sisters and a brother. A sister, Mrs. L.E. Starrett and husband of Mariana, Ark., were here for the funeral which was held Sunday afternoon at the Rogers cemetery where he was buried by the side of his mother who died several years ago.
Contributed on 7/30/14 by wfields55
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Record #: 1027859